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Mom, pastor say teen suspected in New Year's Eve hit and run was at church

Longmont police: Witness contradicts that story

By Pierrette J. ShieldsLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
01/03/2013 06:43:04 PM MST

Updated:
01/03/2013 10:19:15 PM MST

Balentine

LONGMONT -- Police on Thursday arrested an 18-year-old Longmont woman suspected of fatally striking a 16-year-old boy with a car on New Year's Eve.

Kendra Rae Balentine of Longmont was arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a third-degree felony. The victim, identified as 16-year-old Jason Grimmer of Denver, was fleeing a fight when he was struck in the 2200 block of North Main Street.

Stephanie Balentine told police that her daughter could not have been involved because she was in church at the time of the accident.

"My daughter did not kill the young man, and her car could not have been there," Stephanie Balentine told the Times-Call on Thursday afternoon.

Seulean (.)

She said she and her family went to church at 7:30 p.m. for an 8 p.m. event that lasted until after midnight. She said her daughter was at the church all evening.

"I did not see her leave. As far as I know, she didn't leave. Nobody thinks she left," Seulean said Thursday evening. "She was in the building with us playing games. She was there the whole time."

Seulean noted that about 30 people were at the event, so it would have been noticeable if Kendra had left.

"With all my heart, I don't believe Kendra was driving the car that hit that kid. I can't vouch for her car, but I can vouch for her."

"I am just praying to God police do the right thing," Stephanie Balentine said. "She never had contact with the police. She is not a bad young lady. She was in freakin' church. That is what really gets me. It ain't like she was out running the streets on New Year's Eve."

She said her daughter bought her own car about a month ago and no one else would have had access to it.

However, Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said earlier Thursday that investigators who are putting together a timeline of events believe Kendra Rae Balentine left the church at one point in the evening and returned later.

"We have a witness that has provided us information that is contrary to what mom is saying," Satur said.

He said investigators believe that Balentine did, indeed, attend church services at Messiahville Baptist, 1146 Kimbark St., but that she responded to a call for assistance to the 2200 block of Main Street.

"That didn't happen," Stephanie Balentine said.

Satur said investigators are still investigating the case.

"We are confident we have the right person," he said, noting officers are looking into the family's claims. "We are not discounting it. We are investigating it. ... It is not going on deaf ears."

The arrest was made at 7:30 a.m. Thursday on the 1500 block of Main Street, seven blocks south of the site of the hit-and-run. Satur said Balentine is related to some of those who were in the fight, but investigators do not believe she intentionally struck Grimmer.

Stephanie Balentine said Kendra was taking her younger sister to school and stopped for gas Thursday morning. Officers approached her at the gas station. The younger girl called their mother to the scene.

Police on Thursday said Kendra was driving a 2000 silver Chevrolet Cavalier and that the car had damage consistent with striking a pedestrian.

Officers were called to the crash scene shortly after 10 p.m. Monday and found the boy in the street with "massive head trauma," according to police radio traffic.

Satur said the boy was running from a fight between a group of four white boys and men, ages 16 to 31, and a group of six black men in their 20s.

Satur said police had responded to the area earlier in the evening on a report that the group of white boys and men had used racially charged language toward a black man who was alone in the area at the time of the initial call. Officers spoke to the black man, who did not want to pursue charges at the time and who had since met a group of friends. The four white boys and men told officers they would leave the area on the bus and headed toward the bus stop near the Noodles & Co. restaurant, Satur said.

Friends and family say Grimmer used to live in Longmont and attended Longmont High School. At 9:15 p.m. Thursday, the Boulder County Coroner confirmed the victim's identity, but an autopsy was expected to reveal more about the crash, such as whether the boy was struck more than once.

Balentine is scheduled to appear in Boulder County Court at 2 p.m. Friday for a bond hearing.

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